Obama to target tax loopholes in highway fight, and more must-reads

President Barack Obama will call for eliminating corporate tax breaks to fund the rapidly depleting highway trust fund in a speech Tuesday, the Hill writes. A White House official cited by the Hill says Obama will argue “that by closing unfair tax loopholes for companies that ship profits overseas, we can invest in rebuilding our infrastructure.” The Transportation Department could exhaust money in the fund sometime in August. Republicans are likely to pan Obama’s request for eliminating the breaks, however.

Climate threat: The Fiscal Times writes about a new report from the Government Accountability Office warning the Pentagon it needs to be better prepared for weather-related threats at more than 7,000 locations worldwide. The military facilities are threatened by rising sea levels, ocean temperatures and increasing storm frequency brought on by climate change, the report says.

Offshore tax crackdown: The IRS is about to get an unprecedented look at bank accounts and investments held by U.S. citizens abroad, Bloomberg reports. The government will begin imposing 30% taxes on many overseas payments to financial institutions that don’t share information with the IRS. A law that makes it harder to hide assets from tax authorities allows the U.S. to scoop up data from more than 77,000 financial institutions and 80 governments about U.S. citizens’ overseas financial activities.

They’re back: Politico writes about the “Dick and Liz Cheney recovery tour,” in which the former vice president and ex-Senate hopeful are quietly working to repair their relationship with the Republican establishment. That relationship was strained by Liz Cheney’s ill-fated Senate bid in Wyoming last year, as Politico writes. “If the charm offensive helps lay the groundwork for her to run for public office again someday, all the better,” says the piece.

More U.S. troops are going to Iraq. President Obama on Monday ordered another contingent of combat-ready troops to Iraq to protect U.S. citizens and property, stepping up the U.S. military’s presence in the volatile country. The Wall Street Journal writes the new deployments will bring to about 700 the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, including in security and training roles.

Want to read the latest and most interesting stories and analysis to come out of D.C.? Subscribe to the WSJ’s email newsletter, Capital Journal Daybreak.